♥ Gogmazios for Christmas

This post is just going to be me gushing about Monster Hunter. So Gogmazios, the final boss of MH4U, came to Wilds and it dropped Monday night. I didn't get to play until yesterday because I didn't want to stay up late playing on Monday and come into work exhausted the next day x_x

I was just watching BioTREX play the original 4U fight on stream the other day and was overcome with nostalgia; it just made me even more excited to see Gog in 4k. Gog looks AMAZING in Wilds. She's absolutely enormous, even bigger than she was in 4U. The model is beautifully rendered and full of cool new things, like the portable wyvern guns that fall off when the oil is softened and dripping from the monster. Watching Gog fly was breathtaking; I love her huge wingarms and the way you can really get a feel for how heavy the dragon is by the way it flies. The arena areas that you fight in are visually stunning, too. I really enjoy the way the magma rises inside the basin as Gog's temper gets worse. And I love the weapons as well; the Gog weapons and armor in 4U looked amazing but it was hard to see them on the smaller screen. Seeing them full-res has really been a treat (not to mention not having to look at those space-age artian weapons anymore).

In regards to the story...good lord the NPCs yap at you for a long time before you can go fight Gog. And honestly, no matter how Capcom may try, they will never get me to care about Werner. I find him so obnoxious. My QUEEN Olivia was there, though, and when she shielded Werner with her body (hot) I just chose to pretend she was shielding my hunter instead :P I got an amazing screencap from the cutscene. Look how determined she is with her gritted teeth, the hot oil sloughing off her armor as she stands strong in between Gogmazios and a hunter she cares about. How dreamy ♥ (too bad my graphics didn't properly load in her hammer during the cutscene...typical MH Wilds)

So far, I've only played with my closest friends, my girl gang that has been tagging and bagging monsters since 2019, so I can't say what the fight is like with randoms. I hear it's painful. With my usual team, the Gog hunt is difficult but doable. The explosive oil puddles are the biggest pain in my opinion, as well as the hot oil that rains down when Gog is winding up her ultimate attack. Her final form phase is wild! You have to keep moving constantly if you want to get in those hits between blinding laser beams, thick oil puddles, HP-destroying explosions, and getting slapped around by big meaty paws and her massive tail. With my current armor (only one piece transcended for now), it seems I can take 1-2 hits from Gog before I cart. She hits hard!

All in all, I was excited beyond belief for my oily baby to return in 4k. Ever since the Oilwell Basin was first shown in Wilds trailers, I have been huffing insane amounts of copium hoping for her fight. Seeing as much of Wilds is a love letter to 4U, I can't help but to believe the Basin was created with Gogmazios in mind from the very beginning.

So, thank you Capcom for giving us Gog for Christmas! She can't fit under the tree, but she's my favorite present. ♥ Waiting 10+ years was worth it.